LaBeija offers us a keyhole through which to peer into some of her most tender and fragile moments—yet she peers right back, watching us watching her. Her gaze is direct and unflinching, often laced with grief, or defiance, or whatever emotion might have been coursing through her body at the particular moment when the shutter clicked—at once reminding us of the ultimate artifice of posed portraiture and stating, simply, Here I am. Click here to read more.